Even better, lots of sites that offer audio books have significant libraries of totally free audio books for you to download. If you're looking for some new books to listen to, check out these 10 websites that offer free, downloadable audiobooks for your enjoyment. Free audio books and eBooks. Search, browse, listen, read and download over 100000 free audio books and eBooks.
Audiobooks bring together the best of both worlds: The joys of a good story and the convenience of easy listening. They also often serve as a great way to pass time, whether you’re cooking up your favorite dish or out for a long drive. Unfortunately, beaming books into your ears can be pricier than you might expect.
Luckily, the internet has opened the door to a veritable trove of audiobooks if you don’t mind forgoing top-notch narrations and sticking mainly with the classics. Here are our picks for the best websites to get audiobooks for free; you can also find mobile apps that provide the same service.
Open Culture
Open Culture is one of the better gateway websites for educational and cultural media. The site compiles content from around the web and has an admirable collection of audiobooks — primarily classics — that you can stream over the internet or download in a variety of audio formats for later consumption.
The audiobooks are organized by genre (fiction and literature, nonfiction and poetry) and alphabetically listed by the author’s last name.
Lit2Go
Lit2Go offers one of the finer looking free sources for audiobooks. The throwback site, run by Florida’s Educational Technology Clearinghouse, contains a comprehensive collection of downloadable short stories and poems that you can browse by author, title, genre, collection, and even reading level (grades K through 12).
The bulk of the audiobooks can be downloaded as a single MP3 or as short, segmented passages of specific chapters. The homepage search option is also a nice touch, as is the black-and-white artwork that accompanies each title and book collection. Our personal favorites? We’re going to have to go with Proto-Feminist Literature or Autumn in Verse — after all, nothing does inspire classic poetry quite like the turning of the seasons.
Scribl
Scribl (formerly Podiobooks) showcases some of the best, off-the-beaten-path audiobooks the Internet has to offer, many of which are even recent publishings. The site distributes serialized audiobooks via RSS; just click on any of the audiobook links to begin streaming or downloading the narration.
Although the collection is rather limited, you can browse the book selection by contributing author, genre, award status, release date, and title. The site also allows you to donate to your favorite author directly if you feel so inclined, whether his or her book falls under the “Hard-Boiled” or “Urban Fantasy” selection.
Loyal Books
Formally known as Books Should Be Free, Loyal Books is a family-friendly website that caters to the classic literature devotee. The site offers a nice collection of public domain novels and short stories in multiple languages, available in both MP3 and MP4 format in addition to a podcast and an RSS feed. You can also stream book chapters online and browse titles by genre, language, and popularity, or search for specific books using the integrated Google search bar at the top of the page.
Plus, most books offer ratings and reviews from fellow listeners, thus giving you a slightly better idea of what to expect before you hit the play button.
Storynory
There just isn’t always time for bedtime stories — no matter how amazing a parent you are. Thankfully, Storynory provides a solution for those who simply can’t find the time to read to their kids, offering a collection of original and classic fairy tales and short novels specifically tailored for children.
The site currently offers a few hundred audiobooks to choose from, and that number is steadily growing as it routinely publishes at least one new story each week. Storynory also touts some of the most exuberant narrators around, and given each story utilizes an HTML 5 player for playback purposes, you can listen to the audiobooks on nearly any smartphone, tablet, or browser available. The occasional story competitions only further encourage listening and creativity on behalf of your children.
Editors' Recommendations
This app is available only on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.
Description
Carry thousands of books - in your pocket! Download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are.
From addictive thrillers to the latest top novels, stream your favorite stories across all your devices.
3 Reasons to get listening now:
1. Browse thousands of best-selling audiobooks.
2. Download books for offline playback - perfect for a long drive or flight.
3. Use the customizable sleep timer for bedtime reading.
Got that ebook on your kindle but there’s just no time? With more people finding less time to read, Audiobooks.com lets you indulge in your book list - just press play!
AUDIO LIBRARY FEATURES
• Over 125,000+ titles for you to choose from
• 8,000 free titles that anyone can listen to
• Browse by book list or genre, and discover what others are listening to
• Keep kids entertained with family friendly all-time favorites
• Use our smart recommendations feature to curate books picks just for you
FICTION & NON-FICTION
• From the latest releases to bible readings - access an unbeatable selection.
• Revise for that exam, learn a new language or take up a new hobby with non-fiction titles.
• Discover premium reads - beautifully narrated books, hand-picked by us.
Rediscover your love for books. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, driving and more!
Listen to our complimentary library or become an Audiobooks.com member and listen to your first premium book on us PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection. Once you've finished your free trial, you'll enjoy one audiobook every month (and 1 new VIP book every month) for $14.95 USD. You can buy additional credits at any time, or make your credits go further by taking advantage of our member-exclusive 2-for-1 deals.
From addictive thrillers to the latest top novels, stream your favorite stories across all your devices.
3 Reasons to get listening now:
1. Browse thousands of best-selling audiobooks.
2. Download books for offline playback - perfect for a long drive or flight.
3. Use the customizable sleep timer for bedtime reading.
Got that ebook on your kindle but there’s just no time? With more people finding less time to read, Audiobooks.com lets you indulge in your book list - just press play!
AUDIO LIBRARY FEATURES
• Over 125,000+ titles for you to choose from
• 8,000 free titles that anyone can listen to
• Browse by book list or genre, and discover what others are listening to
• Keep kids entertained with family friendly all-time favorites
• Use our smart recommendations feature to curate books picks just for you
FICTION & NON-FICTION
• From the latest releases to bible readings - access an unbeatable selection.
• Revise for that exam, learn a new language or take up a new hobby with non-fiction titles.
• Discover premium reads - beautifully narrated books, hand-picked by us.
Rediscover your love for books. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, driving and more!
Listen to our complimentary library or become an Audiobooks.com member and listen to your first premium book on us PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection. Once you've finished your free trial, you'll enjoy one audiobook every month (and 1 new VIP book every month) for $14.95 USD. You can buy additional credits at any time, or make your credits go further by taking advantage of our member-exclusive 2-for-1 deals.
What’s New
This update introduces the VIP Rewards Program for members and supports improvements to the Waze Audio Player, as well as minor bug fixes and improvements.
35.7K Ratings
Good App and straight forward business model
I recently switched back to Audiobooks from another similar service/app. The other one was cheaper, but it turns out you get what you pay for. Other service randomly denied the books I was right in the middle of and took a few days to fix the issue that came with an update. The other part that really drove me away was I had banked up a few credits, as I listen to about 1 book in a little over a month, I had the service stop charging me so I could catch up. They cut off my whole service in the process. I had to keep my service charging me to finish the book I was in the middle of and then leave a credit behind when I left their service. Audiobooks has never cut me off mid book. Their business model views credits you’ve purchased as yours and honors their use regardless of whether you commit to remaining a customer. I will gladly pay the extra few dollars a month for that level of service to finish the series I’m halfway through, The Sword of Truth (I’m up to Chainfire now).
So far so good
I just got this app yesterday but so far so good. There is one feature I can’t seem to find and am slightly annoyed by. However that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but if it does I wish it was easier to figure out. Here it is, it seems like you get to select a playback option in the settings (for example mine is 30 seconds) but after you choose it seems you’re stuck with just that option. Sure change it again but I’d like to be able to go back 30 seconds AND go back a chapter. There doesn’t seem to be an easy way to restart a chapter or select a chapter specifically. Now like I said I haven’t spent any time looking for any tips or instructions for using this app, so maybe it’s right there and I haven’t realized it yet. But if that’s the case then I’d say this app is quite similar to audible, but not as user friendly in that way. Still, I’d recommend this app for anyone wanting to listen to audiobooks. The playback thing is minor and may not bother most people so clearly they’re doing everything else ok, so worth a download if you’re interested in audiobooks.
Developer Response,
Hey! You can change the time skipping setting in the settings of the app. Just tap the '30' (if that's what it's set to) and select a new time you'd prefer. Hope that helps!
App is annoying
The product is great. Who doesn’t love audio books. And these guys have an ok selection. But the app functions like crap. I always download a book I’m listening to, never stream. And yet this app is nonstop trying to connect to the net. If you drive through a low signal area you will constantly be fumbling with your phone to restart your book and find your spot. This is very annoying and distracting while driving. The app has overlong pauses between saved files that are totally unnecessary, it really takes away from the flow of the story even when it’s a great reader. I have some 30 odd books from this company even tho I’ve stopped my monthly subscription. It always annoys me when I have to come back to this app. Wish I could listen to them through any of my other audio book apps.
“Response” I have more than sufficient room on my iPhone. And this is every book every time. There is absolutely no reason your app needs to connect to the net non-stop whyle I’m listening to my book and yet it is constantly checking for a connection. It’s a shame, I entered the audio book world with this app and my Love for books made me overlook these issues. As I’ve branched our to other apps I’ve been shown how lacking this one is.
“Response” I have more than sufficient room on my iPhone. And this is every book every time. There is absolutely no reason your app needs to connect to the net non-stop whyle I’m listening to my book and yet it is constantly checking for a connection. It’s a shame, I entered the audio book world with this app and my Love for books made me overlook these issues. As I’ve branched our to other apps I’ve been shown how lacking this one is.
Developer Response,
Hi there, I'm sorry to hear you've experienced these issue with the app. I think the main issue here is that the downloads are incomplete. This can happen if there is limited space free on your device, or if the download is interrupted before it's complete. Deleting and redownloading the book should fix this no problem.
Information
Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple TV.
Supports
Family Sharing
With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.